A little more than a full year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with approximately 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the nascent project in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center from that point and has a amused expression when thinking about the experience.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the challenge of launching the all-American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an F1 team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the chance to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses focus are sharper on the looming decisive point in the Australian GP and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while Chester shared this view he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation performing the proper actions on the track. After we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In late summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem notable for their vast knowledge in competing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and it’s going to be probably a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we won't be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in top gear, with personnel now up to in excess of 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 quickly. Alongside their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the process of completing an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are building the center to manufacture the 2029 engine, set for the 2029 season – until then they will run Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, different from the direction in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated the team principal just before the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on distinct elements of the mission at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that manager talks to a leader in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble methodology will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
